Straw-holder.



E. O'CONNOR.

STRAW HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30. 1914. RENEWED Dec. 4. 1914.

EJ39 365. Patented May11,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Q KMZ. y E- e e WITNESSES 4-1- lfiJI/E/VTOR fuazwz 0 Con/New,

ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CQ. PHOTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

E. OCONNOR.

STRAW HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1914. RENEWED DEC. 4. 1914.

Patented May 11, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' MMMWMWWMW, VJ 3 e g e w 0 e WITNESSES ZLEi By Q7 I a I MTOR/VEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOm-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, D C.

EUGENE OGONNOB, 0F EVERETT, WASHINGTON.

STRAW-HOLIDER.

Application filed January 30, 1914, Serial No. 815,490.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE OCONNOR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Everett, in the county of Snohomish and State of Washington, have madecertain new and useful Improvements in Straw- Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of machine used to receive a supply of objects and to deliver them to the outside of the machine one at a time, my particular object being to provide a machine in which a supply of drinking straws may be held and mechanically dispensed one at a time in order to prevent contamination of many straws upon the removal of a single straw in the holders at present employed for this pur pose.

A. further object of my invention is to provide a machine in which a horizontally disposed and movable discharge member may be moved in opposite directions to dispense straw from the side of the machine nearest the operator.

Other objects, and their resulting advantages, will be understood from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through my improved machine, Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken therethrough sub stantially on line 22 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken therethrough, substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the upper section of the holder, Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken therethrough substantially on line 55 of Fig. 6, and Fig. 6 is an elevation looking at one end of the upper portion of the holder, as seen in Fig. 4.

Referring now to these figures, I preferably mount the machine upon a substantial base A in turn supported upon flexible inverted cups a. in order that a smooth surface, for instance glass, marble or the like may be gripped and the machine thus held in stationary position and prevented from accidental displacement. Secured upon the upper surface of the base A are the downwardly bent and inturned ends 6 of the lower section B of the holder, this lower section presenting a substantially flat upper surface, as will be particularly seen by a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Renewed December 4, 1914. Serial No. 875,534.

comparison of Figs. 1 and 3, and being provided with depending flanges Z) along its longitudinal side edges and to which the upper inner ends of outwardly and downwardly inclined guide members C are connected, it being seen from Figs. 2 and 3 that these guide members extend upon opposite sides of the machine and are provided with upwardly curved outer ends 0 which receive and retain the straws discharged from the machine, one of which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Secured with its lower open end spaced above the upper surface of the lower section B is an upper section D, the upper open end of which is provided with inturned flanges 03 extending along its sides andwith tubular portions d and d at its relatively opposite ends. The side edges of the ends of said upper section D are preferably extended and bent inwardly to form vertical guides d for the reception of advertising cards and the like to rest on ledges (Z formed by bending the lower edges of the sides of said section. A cover E is formed of a transparent plate and a rim which is adapted to rest upon the inturned side flanges d, this rim having upwardly project ing lugs e bent over the edge of the transparent plate to retain the same, and being further provided with tubular portions 6 and 6 the former of which receive a pin F which passes through the tubular end section d of the section D of the holder, thus forming an end hinge upon which the cover E may be raised and lowered. The opposite tubular portion 6 receives a locking bolt G, the finger piece of which extends outwardly through a slot 2 and by which the bolt may be moved into and out of the tubular end portion CF to respectively lock and unlock the cover E.

Slidably mounted in a longitudinal position in the space between the upper and lower sections 1) and B respectively is a discharge member H consisting of a flat plate, the edges of which are bent around a rectangular reinforcing frame formed of a bar or rod H, and to which handles H are connected intermediate the longitudinal sides of the discharge member so that the latter may be moved horizontally in relatively opposite directions above the straw guides C. This discharge member is provided with a. central longitudinal slot H of such dimensions as to enable it to receive a single straw, and this straw receiving slot is formed by cutting the discharge plate along an irregular line to form a plurality of free tongues h projecting alternately in opposite directions, these tongues being subsequently bent down wardly at right angles to the plane of the discharge member, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, in order that the straw within the slot may be engaged by portions of the discharge member and thus moved with the same. Along their ends the upper and lower sections D and. B are provided with supplemental strips I and J, the contiguous edges of which are bent laterally and out wardly and concaved to form guides between which the bent and reinforced end edges of the discharge membervare received and are movable. These supplemental strips I and J are also provided with laterally extending parallel strips 1 and J the outer edges of which are bent toward one another from the ends of the discharge member. WVithin these casing so formed are also disposed coil springs K engaging the bearing members H to normally hold the latter at substantially intermediate points, and thus maintain the discharge member in a central po i n- In operation, the locking bolt G is released and the cover E is raised to insert a supply of straws L within the upper section D of the holder, as shown in Fig. 3, a single straw finding its way into the slot of the discharge member. Thus upon movement of the discharge member, which is effected by grasping one of the handles H and pulling the discharge member toward that side of the machine nearest the operator, the straw so held will be moved along the upper surface of the lower section B until it drops from the side edge thereof on to the guides C at the respective side of the machine. The straw then rolls down the guides C and is retained by their upturned ends in position to be readily secured by the operator when the discharge member has been released, springs K retaining the latter to this norcentral position due to their engagement with the bearing faces H. The dispensing machine so formed will be strong and durable and may be positioned upon a smooth surface without danger of accidental' displacement or overturning, and will quickly and effectively discharge the straws, one at a time, from either side.

It will be noted that the straws may be seen at all times through the transparent cover E and that they will be discharged without injury and without danger of contamination from dust or dirt or from the hands of others, as is the case with the holders now commonly used. 7

I claim i 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a casing consisting of upper and lower spaced apart sections, the upper section of which forms a holder, and a discharge member consisting of a plate movable horizontally in the space between the casing sections and having an intermediate straw receiving space formed by slitting the same along an irregular line and bending the resulting free portions downwardly at alternately opposite sides of the straw receiving space so as to confine a straw received in the space.

' 2. A straw dispensing device of the character described, comprising a casing consisting of upper and lower spaced apart sections, a discharge plate movable horizontally in opposite directions in the space between the said sections and provided with laterally projecting bearing pieces, supplemental casings formed along portions of the main casing and in which the bearing pieces are movable, and springs within the said supplemental casings and engaging the said bearing pieces to normally maintain the discharge member in an intermediate position.

3. A straw dispensing device of the character described, comprising a casing consisting of upper and lower spaced apart sections, the former of which is open at its lower end and constitutes a holder, a discharge member movable horizontally in the space between the said sections and having an intermediate straw receiving space and reinforced edges, and supplemental plates secured alongportions of the casing sect1ons and having concaved contiguous flanges between which certain of the reinforced edges of the discharge member are received and guided.

1 EUGENE OCONNOR. Witnesses:

ANDY MoKnnvr, FRANK L. SANBORN.

Qpples q; this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

